Move over, drunken renditions of “Purple Rain.” The hottest new karaoke bar has neither music, nor beats.
Rather, it’s karaoke for aspiring comics. At Jamestown, New York’s $50 million National Comedy Center, visitors can take the stage, grab the mic and try out already-successful comedy bits by their favorite comedians, from Ellen DeGeneres to Dave Chappelle. Like its musical cousin, comedy karaoke displays lines on a screen and even adds tips on when to pause and when to wait for a laugh. Or not.
This real stand-up lounge (there’s even alcohol to assuage potential embarrassment) is one of 50 interactive exhibits at the museum recently designated by Congress as an official cultural institution.
Exhibits run the gauntlet from Chaplin’s cane to Seinfeld’s puffy shirt, from vaudeville to an adults’ only Blue Room (it’s segregated downstairs), from holograms of modern comedians performing actual sets to YouTube videos of cats. There’s even a surprise bench with a hidden whoopee cushion.
Jamestown, the birthplace of Lucille Ball, also has an annual comedy festival, the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum and free showings of popular comedy films. Ghostbusters is on tap October 11.
National Comedy Center, 203 W 2nd Street, 716.484.2222.
Best local place to rest your weary,sore-from-laughing-body. Chautauqua Harbor Hotel, a 4-Diamond luxury hotel on the shores of historic Chautauqua Lake in Celoron, New York.
1 responses to “How many karaoke bars does it take to come up with a punchline?”
Diana L Thatcher
June 29th, 2021 at 20:26
I am so glad I came to visit the George Clooney Slept here page! I did not know these things about the Green Bay Packers. I don’t even like football, but I now have a favorite team! Also, I live very close (within 30 miles, and went there just two weekends ago for an amazing guitar player concert – Trevor Gordon Hall – at the Clayton Opera House) to Clayton. If you ever go there again, and you didn’t try it the first time, they the Koffy Kove – great people, great food, and of course, great coffee! And yet I knew nothing about the punkin chunkin! I will be in the crowd this year for sure. Thank you for your blog, and thank you for showing me what the Green Bay Packers are all about!